{"id":207126,"date":"2025-10-12T09:05:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T09:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/207126\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T09:05:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T09:05:14","slug":"standards-and-surprises-at-the-alaska-state-tennis-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/207126\/","title":{"rendered":"Standards and surprises at the Alaska State Tennis Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Juneau-Douglas senior Elliot Welch returns a shot during the championship match of the boys singles competition at the Alaska State Tennis Tournament on Saturday at Alaska Club East. (Chris Bieri \/ ADN) <\/p>\n

There were plenty of familiar winners Saturday at the Alaska State Tennis Tournament. <\/p>\n

West High continued its dominant run of state titles by taking the team competition. The Eagles\u2019 top girls player, Lana Cebrian, notched her second state singles title. <\/p>\n

Likewise, the Chugiak girls doubles team of Mary Jo Landon and Timber Fleischhacker repeated as champions. <\/p>\n

But several newcomers joined the winners circle as well. <\/p>\n

Juneau-Douglas senior Elliot Welch used a straight set victory to become the first boys singles champion in the history of the school. <\/p>\n

And the mixed doubles team of Evan Dimmick and Emery Bryan earned the first state tennis title of any type for the Wolves. <\/p>\n

Welch had to win a battle with West\u2019s Boden Mason in the quarterfinals before topping Dimond\u2019s Todd Debenham in straight sets for two straight matches to take the title. <\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone that made it to state made it for a reason, so everyone\u2019s really good,\u201d Welch said.<\/p>\n

While Juneau-Douglas has produced state champions before, it never had in the boys singles competition. <\/p>\n

\u201cAlready winning it is cool,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know going through the whole season that it would be the first. My coaches did know, they just didn\u2019t want to tell. Probably a good thing but it\u2019s really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scrappy Eagles team of Dimmick and Bryan cruised in the first set against Marais Anderson and Leif Anderson of Lathrop but needed a tiebreaker in the second set. <\/p>\n

The team erupted into cheers after taking the final point. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe came into regionals and state just trying to do our best, diving for balls, bleeding, sweating, just giving it everything we got,\u201d Dimmick said. <\/p>\n

Bryan said the team\u2019s ability to stay in the present helped them to the state title. <\/p>\n

\u201cJust keeping each other positive is the best thing,\u201d she said. \u201cMaking sure none of us hangs our head. Just focus on this point and have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"West’s Lana Cebrian serves during the championship of the girls singles competition at the Alaska State Tennis Tournament on Saturday at Alaska Club East. (Chris Bieri \/ ADN) <\/p>\n

Cebrian battled Chugiak\u2019s Emerson Sims in a pair of epic matches over the course of the tournament. <\/p>\n

In the semifinals, Cebrian won 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (10-3) to advance to the final. But in the double elimination tournament, the two seniors met again with another competitive battle.<\/p>\n

Cebrian won that one as well, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.<\/p>\n

She said the two battles drained her. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m tired,\u201d she said, adding with a laugh. \u201dI want to go to sleep. I didn\u2019t drink enough electrolytes.”<\/p>\n

Cebrian, a junior, won state singles as a freshman. But last year she was topped by Colony\u2019s Jan Chongkavinit. The win Saturday got her back in the top spot with an opportunity to win a third next season. <\/p>\n

She comes from a family of successful tennis players, who started playing in the Valley. Cebrian and her brother played at West with a pair of a sisters still on their way up the ranks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m thankful for all of my coaches, teachers and all my teammates (at West),\u201d she said. \u201cThey make everything better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Landon and Fleischhacker did not find an easy path to their second straight title. <\/p>\n

They were defeated in the first championship by the West team of Sarah Kim and Grace Yang. it was the first loss of the year for the Chugiak team. But in the double elimination tournament, the Mustangs duo came back to win 4-0, 5-4 against the West team in the final match. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was quite challenging but we did it,\u201d Landon said. <\/p>\n

The Chugiak team used a ninja and grasshopper approach, with Fleischhacker playing mostly on the baseline, hopping from sideline to sideline to track down shots. Meanwhile, Landon was at the net picking off slow returns for quick-hitting points. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s definitely very dominant at net,\u201d Fleischhacker said. \u201cI think it comes from her soccer (background). She can jump really high and get the spikes down. I think I\u2019m pretty good at back, especially when I can get the angles and get an opening so she can score.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Lathrop team of Trevor Sabey and Bode Leonelli were dominant in taking the boys doubles title.<\/p>\n

But that win came much easier than the first matchup between the two teams, which the Lathrop duo won in a close third set. <\/p>\n

State Tennis Tournament<\/p>\n

Boys Singles<\/p>\n

Championship<\/p>\n

Elliot Welch, Juneau-Douglas, def. Todd Debenham, Dimond, 6-2, 6-2<\/p>\n

Girls Singles<\/p>\n

Championship<\/p>\n

Lana Cebrian, West, def. Emerson Sims, Chguiak 7-6 (7-4), 6-4<\/p>\n

Boys Doubles<\/p>\n

Championship<\/p>\n

Trevor Sabey\/Bode Leonelli, Lathrop, def. Finn Albertson\/Jonathan Church, East 6-1, 6-1<\/p>\n

Girls Doubles<\/p>\n

First championship<\/p>\n

Sarah Kim\/ Grace Yang, West, def. Mary Jo Landon\/Timber Fleischhacker, Chugiak 7-5, 2-6, 1-0<\/p>\n

Second championship (double elimination)<\/p>\n

Landon\/Fleischhacker def. Kim\/Yang, 4-0, 5-4<\/p>\n

Mixed Doubles<\/p>\n

Championship<\/p>\n

Evan Dimmick\/Emery Bryan, Eagle River, def. Marais Anderson\/ Leif Anderson, Lathrop 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Juneau-Douglas senior Elliot Welch returns a shot during the championship match of the boys singles competition at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":{"0":"post-207126","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}